Content Crowdsourcing: What It Is and 3 Reasons to Try it

SevenAtoms Blog

SevenAtoms Blog

April 18, 2016 Rachel Riley

Blogging burn-out is a very real thing.

Business bloggers know that it can be easy to hit a metaphorical wall when it comes to creating content, and the reasons vary. Sometimes a blog post writer struggles to source interesting topics they haven’t written about before, and other times they simply don’t have the energy to churn out yet another 500+ word blog post.

Well, worry no more, my fellow blog post creators, because there’s a solution to this all-too-common feeling and it comes in the form of crowdsourcing.

What is Crowdsourcing?

Good question. So, what is crowdsourcing? The literal definition is something along the lines of “the act of obtaining information from a group of people.” When it comes to content creation, however, that translates roughly into “find a crowd and have them create your content for you.”

Determining who exactly your crowd is starts with understanding the goal of the content you’re trying to create. For example, while businesses looking to improve awareness of their brand may want to turn to a crowd of their customers to source content from, a business looking to boost its thought leadership and industry authority might want to instead find a crowd of influencers in a similar space. You can crowdsource through a variety of channels, including email and social media.

Some marketers may gasp at the idea of getting ideas and the actual content itself from the very people you’re trying to reach through your content marketing, but there are compelling reasons to give crowdsourcing a try. We share a few of the top reasons, below.

3 Reasons Crowdsourcing Your Content is a Smart Move

Your crowd will appreciate it. Crowdsourcing is not only a great way to humanize your business, it’s also a fantastic opportunity to engage with potential customers. People like to be heard, and your crowd will appreciate that you are taking the time to figure out what it is they’re looking for. And trust me—given the opportunity, your crowd will be more than happy to tell you what they want.

You can more easily meet consumers’ demands. Consumers want content. In fact, they’re clamoring for it! There are over 30% more bloggers today than there were six years ago and consumers still can’t get enough. Crowdsourcing your content will help you minimize the time you spend developing it and will help you maximize your efforts and appease your potential customers.

Audience engagement with your content WILL increase. It’s only logical that reader engagement with your content will increase after you consult your readers on what it is they want to see. And it makes sense, right? If your crowd is not only able but willing to give you input on the topics and content they want to see then they’re more likely to click on and share that content once its published. Content crowdsourcing is a win-win strategy.